whatever, man...fashion!

Whenever fashion week rolls around, I ask two questions:

1) To myself: "do I care?"

2) To the designers, who are not listening to me and who have no idea who I am: "how are you going to make me care?"

And that, at its heart, is why I still keep up with runway shows.  Because I feel like fashion, as an art form, is all too often on the defensive. When I see a collection that feels like its on the offensive, it's an exciting thing.  

I haven't quite come across any New York collections that did it for me, but London Fashion Week has gotten off to a promising start!  

ERDEM

Easter egg snake prints!  Psychedelic florals! Neon pom-pom looking things!  Sure to be called "country club on acid" by many lazy people, but certain other lazy people might just predict what the first set of lazy people would say.   

ACNE

Here's something about me that you might not know but hopefully will not be surprised to learn: I hate hate hate Renaissance Faires. There is nothing redeeming about them; they are simply the worst.  I got coaxed into going to one last year, though, after I worked on a dress for a Ren Faire production that cost upwards of $1000 and kind of wanted to see it in action.  "It will be fun!" they said.  It was not fun. I showed up at about 11AM and quickly started drinking so I could be drunk for as much of it as possible before sobering up to drive home early in the evening and ended up spending all those hours not doing much of anything because everything was really expensive and wouldn't have even been worth doing it it had been free. At about 5PM, I was sober and more than ready to head home, only to find out that I couldn't leave until after the Faire was closed for the day because I had taken advantage of the free staff parking and my car was locked in.  I was escorted to the camping area to wait it out, and a bunch of gross dudes kissed my hand when they introduced themselves (get it? chivalry?) and then I had to listen to them talk about how potential employers expecting them to have professional-looking haircuts is "sexist."

This comes back to Acne because at some point while I was there, I got conned into posing for one of those awful Old Timey photoshoots where they throw a sepia filter over you and want you to pay crazy amounts of money.  If you are a drunk girl wandering aimlessly, people are going to try and sell you all kinds  of things, but I did not purchase a copy. Anyway, the costumes they give you do not function as actual clothes - they tie in the back, so you're wearing half a dress over jeans and a t-shirt.  That's what this Acne collection reminds me of - princess and court jester costumes tied over everyday clothes. But, like, in a good way!

I had not heard of Marques Almeida, but checked it out on a tip from my girl Ana, who knows about these things.  It's sort of easy to glance over it quickly and notice how much it has in common with the Acne collection (flowing lavender and white, chunky 90s sandals, etc.) but I get different vibes from the collections. Marques Almeida is more "Fuck this! I'm going to the beach!" and Acne is more "Fuck this! You don't know my life!"

So yeah, thus concludes a very professional blog post about London Fashion Week.

Just Another Fashion Post

Long time no see! Tricia and I are cooking up a few new blogging ideas (VERY SECRET IDEAS) which we'll hopefully be revealing to you soon. Until then, I'm going to fangirl over a few of the latest collections from this past week. To be perfectly honest, there's only about 3 collections I peek at during fashion week. I find I just get way too overwhelmed otherwise and there hasn't been a Rachel Comey or Steven Alan collection I've seen and hated (although I didn't really LOVE either collection 100% , some of it seemed a bit ill-fitting, but there were definitely a few stand out looks).

Rachel Comey

Steven Alan

Images from http://www.fashionising.com/ & http://www.fashionista.com

thoroughly digging right now: neutrals edition

After a lot of excitement and truly appreciated face-to-face time with people I love, I'm beyond thrilled to be hunkered down for a bit devoted to semi-solitary pursuits.  This includes finally focusing on my writing for the first time too long and going at it for real this time.  Though I'm currently catching up on a few things I've already promised to people, I will be looking for more more more to do very soon, so if any lovely readers want to point me in the direction of people/publications to pitch to, it would be much appreciated!  FULL SPEED AHEAD ON MY DREAMS

Another cool thing is that I'm also back to liking things again! Honest to god appreciation, y'all.  It's a good feeling, so I thought I'd share.

URSA MINOR

Obviously, Ursa Minor is the best name for anything, and so I'm quite happy that Elizabeth Hudson's clothing and accessories line is so good and full of the other things I'm super into when I'm not too busy loving bears and space.  These shots for Fall/Winter by Francesca Tallone capture the perfect dark-meets-light, dreamy, and unfussy thing that I'm always going for and never achieving quite this well.

 

VIVIAN GIRLS SIDE PROJECTS

Vivian Girls is one of those bands I'll always have a certain affection for, and so it's pretty cool that they all have side projects and that their ex-members (like Frankie Rose!) do cool things too.  Earlier this year, bassist Katy Goodman released her second record as La Sera entitled Sees the Light, which was the perfect happysad break up album.  Cassie Ramone's band with Woods' Kevin Morby, the Babies, will release Our House on the Hill later this year and I'm looking forward to it.  I think the Vivian Girls charm for me, personally, is that they always seem to provide something I need at the time.  Like, right now I'm inching towards the end of summer and it's still too hot and I'm just over it and tired and I don't really want to talk to anyone about anything.  These bands are perfect for indulging my angst without getting too deep into it.  

THE BABIES - "Moonlight Mile"

RENNES & METRODE

Rennes and Metrode are a collaboration made in heaven.  I was impressed by the quality of the Rennes pieces I handled at Myth & Symbol when I visited and have dug Metrode's aesthetic for a while now, so I'm naturally smitten with these beauties. It looks like I've already missed out on the tote, but perhaps there will be a pouch in my future!

AUBREY PLAZA


Despite compelling evidence to the contrary, I find it pretty hard to actually care about celebrities.  Gossip's entertaining and all, but I typically don't feel any sense of personal investment.  Now and again, though, I do get fixated on certain people who I will almost definitely never meet, and right now I have it bad for Aubrey Plaza.

I love her on Parks & Rec and have always thought that she's really, really pretty...but it wasn't until watching an interview with her (and then like a dozen more interviews with her in rapid succession) that I really became obsessed.  Like, I cannot even tell you how much I want to be her. Well, I could, but you would definitely judge me because it's super pathetic.

MAGGIE

My sister got a kitten recently and, though all kittens are wonderful, this one is especially great, I think.  The day I met her, she spent a full hour napping in my lap and, though I was exhausted myself, the thought of closing my eyes and missing a single second of her cuteness didn't quite seem worth it.

baggu

I'm sure all of our fellow internet fan girls have already seen images of the latest Baggu collection circulating around for a while now but I'm just so smitten I can't help reposting these. The leather bucket bag is especially wonderful.

images via shop.creaturesofcomfort.us, designsponge.com & baggu.com

myth & symbol preview

Not trying to insult the intelligence of any readers here, but I feel the need to remind you Texas is really big. So big that I'm not even close to seeing a fraction of everything worth seeing here despite having spent most of my life living here.  With that in mind, I figured it's long overdue for us to start featuring nice places for local readers to check out and maybe even tempt out-of-staters to visit if we do a good enough job! Texas love forever.

Wren, Samatha Pleet, and Ace & Jig dresses.  

First up is a preview of Myth & Symbol, a shop which will be opening very soon in Houston and stocking clothing and accessories from emerging designers such as Feral Childe, Uzi, and Dusen Dusen as well as printed, home, and beauty goods.  It's not hard to imagine that the future customers are a lot like me when it comes to buying clothes...girls who focus on a wardrobe consisting of a small rotation of pieces truly special to them from sources they feel good about supporting.  

The obvious benefit of the shop stocking plenty of designers whose work hasn't yet be sold in Houston (and in some cases, all of Texas) is that it will give customers the opportunity to check out the fit and feel of pieces they might have only admired online or possibly never would have been familiar with otherwise. I think the appeal of Myth & Symbol goes beyond that, though. When I stopped by to check out the shop while they prepare for their launch, Trang and Chau Nguyen (2/4 of the Myth + Symbol team) were equal parts enthusiastic and informed as they showed me pieces from the store, sharing tidbits they had learned from their Brooklyn studio visits such as which designers share space and the inspiration behind certain prints.  Eventually, they plan to use the space to host events such as jewelry making workshops to foster Houston's own creative community.  

Be sure to check out the shop for yourself when it opens if you're in town, and until then, enjoy my preview shots and read what Trang had to say about how it came together and some of her favorite pieces.

The fitting rooms feature an impressive amount of yardage of hand-dyed rope.  

Your store is being created by a group of people with a diverse group of talents.  What made opening a retail store seem like the best idea to combine your interests?  

There are many aspects to operating a boutique so it's really beneficial having a team with diverse backgrounds. You need someone who knows the business and the creative side. All four of us (Ameet, BJ, Chau and myself) contribute our own unique talents and each bring different skills to the table. Chau is actually my sister. BJ is my brother-in-law and I've known Ameet since high school.

Some of the accessories in stock by designers including Alyson Fox, Rennes, Fay Andrada, and Baggu.

What about opening a store with your vision has been the most surprising?

The response from other local retailers... especially from other boutiques who also are focused on independent designers. Everyone wants each other to succeed.

Houston tends to be overlooked, from a national and even specifically Texan level, in terms of creative ventures, despite having a really impressive museum district and artistic community.  What made you want to stay in Houston instead of setting up shop in a city where the brands you’re carrying might have more recognition?

Houston has definitely been overlooked. I think this outlook is slowly changing though since there's been an "Austin-effect" emerging in this oil city. Houstonians are becoming more conscious and aware of the way they consume and buy. I can't completely knock down Houstonians though. We've always appreciated fashion, it just isn't easily accessible. The idea of Myth + Symbol came about because my sister and I knew we weren't the only ones frustrated that we couldn't find our favorite designers in our very own city. There's a big demographic that has yet to be tapped into here.

In my perfect world, every retail location (book stores! clothing stores! grocery stores!) would have a section devoted to aesthetically pleasing, independently published printed material.

Are there any specific pieces you’re stoked to have in stock? Tell us about them!

Fay Andrada's Elli Necklace has been on my personal wish list for months. It's kinda pathetic of me but sometimes I would just go online and swoon over the necklace.  Samantha Pleet's Cosmo Dress is one of those dresses that just make you wanna swirl and twirl. I'm also a proud Texan so I can't wait to feature a local designer, Myan from Hidden Vices. 

Dusen Dusen prints.

Odette New York jewelry.

our brand could be your life

This is a blog post that I’m writing mostly because the title popped into my head and I wanted to use it. I love non-fiction books about music - preferably focused on anything angsty, rebellious, and catchy from the last 40 years. Our Band Could Be Your Life is one of 'em, hence the title. I devour these books like they’re trashy romance novels, and some of them totally are trashy romance novels. Right now I'm re-reading Please Kill Me (like I do) and I'm totally fine with revisiting everything I loved as a teenager instead of broadening my horizons.


That isn't what this post is about, however. I am here today to muse on my favorite subject to devote too much time/energy to... FASHION!

Here is a photo Miley Cyrus posted to her Twitter account in which she references Kanye West's Maison Martin Margiela reference.  

I spend a lot of time looking at clothes that are available for purchase (mostly online and thrift stores), but It’s pretty rare for me to actually buy something these days; my only wearable purchases in 2012 have been a pair of shoes and a ring. Which isn’t to say that I plan my wardrobe and any additions to it obsessively like Dead Fleurette; I’m a total impulse shopper; it just takes a really, really good deal (the kind you can't plan for) to get me to part with any part of my (currently pathetic) income.

So in terms of brand loyalty in fashion, mine exists on a weird (mostly) fictional plane because I don’t have much experience with the labels I admire - if (big if) I own one of their products, it’s probably the only thing by them I have and so I can only speak to the quality that particular item. However, there are a couple notable exceptions of brands that I feel okay having strong opinions about, because sometimes lightning strikes twice (or, er, five times.) I do own two pairs of shoes by Rachel Comey that have made me a believer in comfortable heels. I also have a weirdly high number of APC things in my closet, but one of them is a striped t-shirt that totally bled (really, APC? Forever21 can make cotton t-shirts that don’t bleed and you can’t? I guess there's a reason why it was on The Outnet...ouch.) So while I aesthetically dig APC, I don’t know if I’ll ever buy anything by them again unless it’s like crazy cheap and cute. Or just moderately cheap and crazy cute if I'm feeling reckless. 

Okay, APC, you've made your point...

Still, I have “favorite” brands - including labels that make clothes I have never even seen in real life, and it typically isn’t just the actual look of the collection that sways me one way or the other. It’s all about selling the lifestyle, man. 


Like on Project Runway how they're always asking, "Who are you designing for? Tell me who this girl is!" Invariably, the designer gives a really earnest response about designing for their mom, who was very stylish and tragically died during childbirth, and Michael Kors snarkily chimes in with something that makes no sense whatsoever like "she looks like a lobster who just fell off the plate on an Elizabeth Taylor themed cruise" and everyone laughs, except the designer, who is crying. Now, Project Runway (to me, anyway) is pretty rarely spot on when it comes to fashion and mostly just a reason for Heidi Klum say cute things and wear sequins on camera...but that question is totally spot on: I like certain brands because I want to be that girl that they're designing for. Her life seems better than mine, and their clothes can help bridge the gap between our worlds ... or so it seems.

Isabel Marant Mindfreak

Isabel Marant is a pretty good example of really creating the entire world of the Isabel Marant woman - and for that, I think she's an evil fashion genius. Here is something she said once:

It's easy to make magic on a red carpet - except just how many of us live that life? But how do we make it happen every day on the sidewalk? That's why I love to design.

Which I think is weird coming from someone who purposely makes her work inaccessible.   Even if you had all the money in the world to buy her clothes (and trust me, you will need all the money in the world) ... you might not be able to, because she's very particular about the quantities of her clothes that are available and where they can be sold.

Here is a quotation from a Huffington Post piece on her, which is (hilariously) titled "All the Cool Girls Love Isabel Marant": 

Isabel Marant combines femininity and edge in a way women crave today - effortless, chic and wearable. According to Trina, customers love Isabel Marant because they can incorporate her pieces into their existing wardrobe. Here's what interesting - women who buy Isabel Marant pieces are downtown urban, bohemian and career women that want to look sophisticated but not stuffy. They are moms who want to be comfortable, but not at the expense of sacrificing their style to sweats. Style is what these women share in common.

Fashion can be bought, style one must posses yadda yadda aside, can we just talk about how scary cool Isabel Marant is? Not because I'm into Parisian street chic or whatever...I currently do not give a fuck about Parisian street chic.  If you wanna spend a lot of money to not look you spent a lot of money except to a select few people who will worship the ground your Dicker boots walk on, please do your thing, but that isn't what I, personally, get from her...I just think she's rad because she controls minds.  I don't know what it's like to wear her clothes, but I'm also not sure that I know what it's like to feel cool...and the fact that those two actions are linked to so many people is no small feat.


Oh, and the best part is that she just goes off to a cabin in the woods with her cute little family every weekend.

Isabel Marant's cabin: you aren't invited.

A lot of brands go for the opposite strategy, though (particularly new, hip-to-what-the-kids-are-blogging ones) and use accessibility as a tool. Capsule collections and partnerships with major retailers are huge these days, and, at the very least give a sense of perceived luxury . That isn't to say, however, that making a brand lifestyle "accesible" has to be synonymous with polyester and waiting on line for Target to open, though.  Like music before it, fashion's gone digital, and the industry is changing as a result. 


Blogging and social media provide a lot of label-to-potential-customer interaction without either party necessarily dropping any cash; it comes in a lot of forms, from highly-stylized lookbook videos to behind-the-scenes Instagramming. I mostly think it's great, because as a potential customer, I can dip my toes in the water, think about how it would feel to maybe one day be "that girl" and at least feel really smart because I'm enjoying dresses without buying them, which is something I can't do with, say, a cup of coffee, which I physically need to have at least twice a day to function. Once the relationship is built, though, and I promise you, eventually, some of the many Twitter followers/blog readers/Facebook fans/whatever gives in ... the 21st century version of Chinese water torture.  


I know this phenomenon isn't fashion specific, though, and obviously not a new thing in advertising (totally underrepresented on Mad Men, where they seem gloss over most professional sliminess in favor of personal sliminess), but as someone who is youngish, possibly intelligent, and definitely tech savvy, the idea of social media using me instead of the other way around is not an easy pill to swallow. 

Cool!

My favorite variation of all this fashion lifestyle branding business is what Acne has done with Acne Paper - cool brand, cool magazine.  You can own something by them (even get, yes -  cool packaging) that is high quality without spending what you would on their clothing.  Maybe not as satisfying as a sheer gray floral blazer, but certainly kinder to my bank account.

Acne S/S 12

Uh, I don't really have a conclusion to all this exactly, except that I'm really fascinated by fashion marketing, I guess.  I have to find some way to justify going to college and studying psychology, don't I?